salvaging my attys (Evod and Protank 2)

[DeucesWild]

Ok, so I've been told not to throw away atomizers, but rather to rebuild them. I'm ok with that. I have an iTaste v3 on the bottom.

Really, I just want to rebuild them to their original specs (I think they're all around 2.4ohms or thereabouts).

What's the easiest way to do this, what size product (kanthal wire gauge, silica size, etc.) am I looking at buying, and where's the best/most inexpensive place to get the supplies from?

Thanks!

DW

 

[Krashman Von Stinkputin]

itaste displays ohms if I recall

Temco for 32 gauge kanthal (100ft is around $5.00
Organic cotton
small screwdriver, nail for coil wrapping (one that fits inside the two slots in the head)

Youtube for instruction videos on rebuilding kanger heads

Once you do it a couple of times it becomes easy and you can get the heads to last longer cuz you can pull the cotton and dry burn the coils to clean them better.
Good luck

 

[Marc411]

Let's see if this works

Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

It was set up using 30 ga kanthal and a 2mm (5/64) bit

 

[jafmf95]

It's actually much easier to rebuild them "better" than original now. My $.02:
- Go to fasttech and search for "Pre-made Welded Wires". Get the ohm you want. Get all the ohms you might want to play with....it's cheap! (Just get the NR-R-NR wires - not the coils or coils & wick)
- Go to ebay and get 1mm hollow Ekowool. I like to buy from lightningvapes. Never had a bad experience.
- Watch the rebuild videos so you get the gist.
- Torch your Ekowool to make it easier to work with. (Torch, blue flame, not a lighter)
- Insert a small paper clip into your Ekowool and wrap your coil around that. Tight.
- Depending on how you like your vape, you can add a "flavor wick", or double over the wick when you wrap the coil.
- Install, remove paper clip, trim wicks, enjoy.

Aside from not having to deal with figuring out your gauge, wraps, lengths, etc.... the welded wires will only heat the coil and your positive post insulators will last longer.

Cheers.

 

[Marc411]

This is a great thread but 100+ pages, all about rebuilding Protanks

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/clearomizers/486794-protank-microcoil-discussion.html

 

[aznnp77]

Buy 32 gauge kanthal in 100ft from ebay: Kanthal A1 Gauge 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 AWG 25' 50' 100' 250' 500' 1000' | eBay

Buy Organic Cotton Balls from CVS: CVS 100% Cotton Triple Size Organic Cotton Balls - CVS pharmacy

Buy This Screwdriver Kit From Dollar Tree: Bulk Tool Bench Precision Screwdrivers with Plastic Cases, 6-pc. Sets at DollarTree.com


My Dollar tree had a nice tweezer set as well. You probably also want to get some spring loaded mini pliers, but it can be done with just your fingers. Then watch a youtube video and try it out. Was a bit initmidating at first, but can be done at a relaxed pace within 5 minutes once you get the hang of it. You can get 500ft of rayon at Sallys for $11.49 if you want to try that route instead.

 

[DeucesWild]

It's actually much easier to rebuild them "better" than original now. My $.02:
- Go to fasttech and search for "Pre-made Welded Wires". Get the ohm you want. Get all the ohms you might want to play with....it's cheap! (Just get the NR-R-NR wires - not the coils or coils & wick)
- Go to ebay and get 1mm hollow Ekowool. I like to buy from lightningvapes. Never had a bad experience.
- Watch the rebuild videos so you get the gist.
- Torch your Ekowool to make it easier to work with. (Torch, blue flame, not a lighter)
- Insert a small paper clip into your Ekowool and wrap your coil around that. Tight.
- Depending on how you like your vape, you can add a "flavor wick", or double over the wick when you wrap the coil.
- Install, remove paper clip, trim wicks, enjoy.

Aside from not having to deal with figuring out your gauge, wraps, lengths, etc.... the welded wires will only heat the coil and your positive post insulators will last longer.

Cheers.

I've never heard of these welded wires before. So how many 'wraps' would I use for a 2.4ohm coil? And would I not use the shiny 'legs' at all? I've seen some videos on rebuilding atty's so far, but only with Kanthal. I'm also thinking of trying the Ekowool as you suggest. I know lots of people swear by organic cotton balls...but they seem like a maintenance headache, since you can't dry-burn with them in and they have to be switched out frequently (if I'm understanding their use and care properly). I'm used to dry-burning my coils with the stock silica in them, without having to switch anything out. I'm assuming Ekowool handles dry-burning without having to remove it first. It's just a little daunting jumping to both Ekowool and welded wires (couldn't find any Youtube videos showing the welded wires used to make coils).

DW

 

[jafmf95]

I've never heard of these welded wires before. So how many 'wraps' would I use for a 2.4ohm coil? And would I not use the shiny 'legs' at all? I've seen some videos on rebuilding atty's so far, but only with Kanthal.

The welded wires are pre-made to a specific resistance (ohm), so number of wraps doesn't matter. You start and finish your wrap at the weld. If you use a 2.4ohm wire and, for instance, a single 1mm Ekowool wick, you might wrap it 8 or 9 times. If you decided to double over the Ekowool for a larger wick, you might only wrap it 5 or 6 times. Either way, you have a 2.4ohm coil. The 'legs' are just that. You install the same as a straight Kanthal coil.

Note - for a single coil build in an Evod/Protank head, you'll likely want to double over the Ekowool or put a "flavor wick" on top of your coil. I prefer the former.

I'm also thinking of trying the Ekowool as you suggest. I know lots of people swear by organic cotton balls...but they seem like a maintenance headache, since you can't dry-burn with them in and they have to be switched out frequently (if I'm understanding their use and care properly). I'm used to dry-burning my coils with the stock silica in them, without having to switch anything out. I'm assuming Ekowool handles dry-burning without having to remove it first.
DW

Yes - you just dry burn the coil, Ekowool and all. I rinse them, let them dry, dry burn, rinse again, dry and they are ready to reuse.

It's just a little daunting jumping to both Ekowool and welded wires (couldn't find any Youtube videos showing the welded wires used to make coils).

It really isn't overly complicated - in fact, its easier for both (than a stock coil):
- If you are using regular silica wick, you have to hold 2 to 4 strands together with a guide - like a paper clip - and wrap a coil. With hollow Ekowool, the guide can go right inside the wick.
- The only difference with welded wires vs straight Kanthal is that you have a perfect length already cut, and an exact mark for the coil itself (between the welds.)

Let me build one real quick and take a few pics. brb....

Edit: Pics

 

[DingerCPA]

Deuces, these are a couple of sites I used when I first started rebuilding my EVOD/PT2 coils:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/coil-builds/432047-my-bad-pictorial-evod-rewicking-cotton-recoiling.html

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/brookj1986/6066-simple-protank-coil-replacement.html

I use a 1/16" drill bit, 30g Kanthal, and cotton balls or rayon (cellucotton). I have a nail clipper, a pair of tweezers, and a small mustache trimmer to snip the wick. Use my VV3 as my ohm tester (I build to about 1.8Ω on most coils) I finally splurged and got a real ohm tester, really so I can hold my kayfun decks while I'm building.

It's easy-peasy. I like the flavor better from the cotton, rather than the silica. That's just my preference

 

[aznnp77]

Once you get good at rebuilding coils, you won't mind taking 5 minutes every few days to renew the flavor. I actually use rayon because I think it's easier than using organic cotton. I do 6 wraps of 32 gauge kanthal on that screwdriver I linked and always get about 2.2 or 2.3 ohms.

I've never had success dry burning silica though. Lasted me half a day tops after doing that. Silica is what is used with stock heads because they last the longest, but they wick very poorly and don't allow you to take quick hits when you're in a hurry. I usually hit my vape 3 times in a row. Silica always burned by the third hit. Not to mention that the flavor with Cotton/Rayon is noticeably better due to it's better wicking.

 

[DeucesWild]

Hey, thanks everyone for the awesome advice/tips/recommendations! Alot of stuff to digest. The only thing I think I need now is some practice and a bit of luck If I run into any hiccups or problems, I'll be back.

Thanks again!

DW

 

[DeucesWild]

The welded wires are pre-made to a specific resistance (ohm), so number of wraps doesn't matter. You start and finish your wrap at the weld. If you use a 2.4ohm wire and, for instance, a single 1mm Ekowool wick, you might wrap it 8 or 9 times. If you decided to double over the Ekowool for a larger wick, you might only wrap it 5 or 6 times. Either way, you have a 2.4ohm coil. The 'legs' are just that. You install the same as a straight Kanthal coil.

Note - for a single coil build in an Evod/Protank head, you'll likely want to double over the Ekowool or put a "flavor wick" on top of your coil. I prefer the former.

Yes - you just dry burn the coil, Ekowool and all. I rinse them, let them dry, dry burn, rinse again, dry and they are ready to reuse.

It really isn't overly complicated - in fact, its easier for both (than a stock coil):
- If you are using regular silica wick, you have to hold 2 to 4 strands together with a guide - like a paper clip - and wrap a coil. With hollow Ekowool, the guide can go right inside the wick.
- The only difference with welded wires vs straight Kanthal is that you have a perfect length already cut, and an exact mark for the coil itself (between the welds.)

Let me build one real quick and take a few pics. brb....

Dang, question already. I checked out Fasttech for that Pre-made Welded Wires...and there's 3 options for 2.4 ohm wire: 15, 16 or 18mm or something like that. Which would I be looking at if I were to go that route?

DW

 

[jafmf95]

They are representing gauge in mm. So 0.18mm would be ~33ga, 0.16mm would be 34ga, 0.15mm would be ~34.5ga. When I used regular Kanthal on these, I usually used 30ga. But you had to take into account the length of the legs. With these, I've been ordering 0.2mm for the 1.5ohm wires I use to make my BVCs with, and 0.16mm for the 2.6ohm & 2.8ohm wires that I use to rebuild Kanger & Nautilus dual coils. Any of them will build a coil that will fit. It's just a matter of more or less surface area, and that's something that will be to your taste. You could try getting both 0.18 and 0.15 to see if you notice a difference. I always just shoot for the middle to make things easier on myself

 

[DeucesWild]

They are representing gauge in mm. So 0.18mm would be ~33ga, 0.16mm would be 34ga, 0.15mm would be ~34.5ga. When I used regular Kanthal on these, I usually used 30ga. But you had to take into account the length of the legs. With these, I've been ordering 0.2mm for the 1.5ohm wires I use to make my BVCs with, and 0.16mm for the 2.6ohm & 2.8ohm wires that I use to rebuild Kanger & Nautilus dual coils. Any of them will build a coil that will fit. It's just a matter of more or less surface area, and that's something that will be to your taste. You could try getting both 0.18 and 0.15 to see if you notice a difference. I always just shoot for the middle to make things easier on myself

Thanks for the great explanation! I'll try the .15 and .18. It's cheap enough! Thanks again!

DW

 

[aznnp77]

Thanks for the great explanation! I'll try the .15 and .18. It's cheap enough! Thanks again!

DW

As I said in another "rebuilding protank heads" thread, if you are going to go through the trouble of completely taking apart your coil, rebuilding it, and rewicking it, please take the extra 30 seconds to wrap your own coil. It's really not that hard. It sounds intimidating, but it's not. You take 3-4 inches of wire and wrap it around 6 times with a screwdriver, then press it together with your finger.You can get 100 feet of the wire for $3.50. I rebuild about 6 coils a week between my 4 tanks.

 

[Andyhrn]

Protank 2 rebuilding kit.